Rays Sign Erasmo Ramirez To Minor League Deal

June 13: The club has now officially announced the deal, assigning Ramirez to Durham.

June 11: The Rays and right-hander Erasmo Ramirez are “working to finalize a minor league deal,” Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes.  On his Twitter feed, Topkin notes that the agreement is “likely to happen.”

Ramirez is a familiar face at Tropicana Field, as the righty posted a 3.98 ERA over 323 1/3 innings with the Rays from 2015-17 before Tampa dealt him to the Mariners in advance of the July 2017 trade deadline.  That move itself was a bit of a homecoming since Ramirez pitched the first three seasons of his career in Seattle, but since the trade Ramirez has become a journeyman, pitching for five different teams over the last six MLB seasons.

Most recently, Ramirez pitched for the Nationals in 2022-23, first joining Washington a minors deal in the 2021-22 offseason and delivering a 2.92 ERA over 86 1/3 innings in 2022.  That quality performance earned Ramirez a guaranteed $1MM Major League to return to D.C. this past offseason, but he has had a much rougher time of things this season.  The right-hander has a 6.33 ERA over 27 relief innings, and while Ramirez has never been a big strikeout pitcher, his 10.3% strikeout rate is his lowest in any full season.  The Nationals designated and then ultimately released Ramirez earlier this week.

While the results haven’t been there for the 33-year-old, a return to Tampa Bay might prove beneficial for Ramirez, given the Rays’ success at rejuvenating pitchers’ careers or finding hidden gems on the mound.  That said, the Rays’ magic has been tested this season amidst a lot of injuries, and the bullpen has been posting middling numbers.  Getting a long reliever like Ramirez to eat innings and limit damage would be very beneficial for the Rays as they try to get healthy and figure out how to get their bullpen on track for the playoff run.